Mars lander finds salty environment in taste test

By ALICIA CHANG , AP Science Writer, Space & Earth science / Space Exploration

This photo released by NASA shows four Wet Chemistry Laboratory units, part of the microscopy, electrochemistry and conductivity analyzer, instrument on board the Phoenix Mars Lander on Aug. 4, 2007, before the Phoenix was launched into space. The Phoenix lander's first taste test of soil near Mars' north pole reveals a briny environment similar to what can be found in backyards on Earth, scientists said Thursday. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL/CalTECH/University of Arizona)

(AP) -- The Phoenix lander's first taste test of soil near Mars' north pole reveals a briny environment similar to what can be found in backyards on Earth, scientists said Thursday.

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Posted by slash 06/27/08 10:19

Rank: 1/5 after 1 vote

Misleading title?

Isn't salt the product af acid reacting with alcalines? How, then does 'salty' describe soil that according to the article is predominantly alcaline? The article doesn't even point out the actual presence of salt, although the components (various metals and chloride are certainly there, so why does the author attribute salty to mars soil?

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Posted by superhuman 06/27/08 12:43

Rank: 4.5/5 after 2 votes

If you mix more alkalies then acids you can get both salty and alkaline mixture. Or just mix base with salt as in dry NaOH with NaCl.
Salty is a very general term, basically what they mean is that when they dissolved the sample in water they detected following ions: Na plus, Mg 2plus , K plus and Cl- (cant put plus sign here apparently).
Those ions when dehydrated will form salts: NaCl, KCl, MgCl2.

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Posted by Mercury_01 06/27/08 19:32

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A little off the wall here, but can ayone guess why they diddnt include an instrument to sense actual biology? What do you guys think about the theory that NASA is a front, and that the scientists doing this work are unaware pawns who really only serve to keep the public mind occupied? Im not a proponent of conspiracy theories, on grounds that so many people just arent smart enough to keep a secret. However, I do believe in small groups of lying people within our govornment.

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Posted by aussiecarter 06/27/08 21:06

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I agree that secrets are very difficult to keep for many, and that a major conspiricy theory is almost impossible for most. Although for some it is possible and those are few types of people who would be recruited and trained specifically for doing so. A successful conspiricy of any sorts should be a small group of people and must occur very rarely to reduce the probability of exposure. Given the public focus of this NASA project there would first be some obvious scrutiny of the test performed by some very smart people with passionate interests in science.

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Posted by k_m 06/29/08 18:13

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Whelp... now it's time to incubate some anaerobic bacteria in the martian soil. Let's get to terraforming!

Should it be "martian" or "marsian"? wonder wonder....

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Posted by superhuman 07/02/08 10:47

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Sensing biology is not easy, especially if it is an alien biology. Many microorganisms on our own Earth are very hard to detect even when you know what you are looking for.
Microscope is a good way to start and from what Ive read they have one on board.

And as for NASA - a front to what? I don't think they are a front I think they are just another publicly funded agency that lacks innovation and a clearly defined goal.